Final Fantasy: Not a Hero
by Zamen Kensata
Summary: An unknown series of devestating attacks plague the super powers of the Earth. With humanity on the brink of extinction an unlikely team of strangers from around the globe unite in an attempt to save their world.
1. Prologue

Final fantasy is the property of Squaresoft or Square Enix or whatever version of a square they like to identify themselves as. I do not own the concept of materia or most of the monsters featured in this story.

**Prologue**

**Shattered existence**

**November 20****th**** 2005: Hollywood, Florida**

The crimson liquid cut through the white gelatin like canyon crevices shining bright as if they were on fire. It spilled over onto the ivory surface creating a light moist pink. Each time the caramel eyelids closed down over the white eyes, more blood seemed to seep out from the dark brown pupils in the center. Deep breaths of air slowly flowed in and out through the mouth of the man lying on the curb of the sidewalk. His body was completely still, not even the rise and fall of his chest was visible to inquiring eyes. His short black hair was filled with more dirt than his body and face were covered in. The seemingly hundreds of flies and gnats that buzzed around him, most of them dared not touch the stinking rotting thing that wasted away beneath them. An empty bottle of vodka was loosely clutched in the man's right hand that hung over the curb. Some of the contents of that bottle stained the man's black jeans, black t-shirt, and unbuttoned black shirt. Thousands of people had passed by the man for the last three days that he lay there on the curb, none bothered to even ask why he was there.

_Why I'm here…? __**I don't know…why are you here, Michael?**_ The man's thoughts were more unstable than his outer appearance. _Where else would I be? __**At home?**__ I have no home. __**With family…?**__ No family… __**Go be with your significant other! Oh wait…shit! She's gone too! Hahahahahahahahaha!!**_

"Help!"

_What was that? __**Who was that?**_

"_Help me!"_

_What the fuck is going on!? That __**was a girl…**_

"Somebody!" It was late night, well beyond three in the morning. Barely anyone was out. No one near the area the young man lay. A few yards away from him the voice echoed from an alley along with a familiar sound of skin and bone slamming against skin and bone. "Please stop!"

"Shut up!" An agitated male voice snapped at the frightened female.

"Stop it!" The woman cried out as an echo of clothes being stretched and ripped echoed over her voice.

"When I see my money I'll stop!" The man shouted.

_You gotta be fucking kidding me._ Michael sighed. His body began to tremble as his feet were placed on the ground beneath him and his torso rose. Michael stumbled into the alley, the bottle of vodka clutched tightly in his hand.

The angry pimp ripped away his prostitute's shirt, and then shoved her against the wall. "I said shut up!"

Michael fell into the wall and tipped up the bottle in his hand, gulping down half of the remaining vodka, and then gazed out with blurred vision at the escalating scene in front of him. A slight belch escaped his lips.

The pimp lowered his hand that he was about to smack his prostitute with and quickly turned to face the uninvited spectator. "Who the fuck? Get the hell out of here!"

_What the hell are you doing?_ It took most of Michael's willpower to remain standing.

"Please…" The woman gazed out at Michael with helpless desperation in her eyes. "Help me…"

Another slap echoed throughout the alley as the pimp's hand smashed across the woman's face. "I said shut the _fuck_ up!" His infuriated gaze returned to Michael. His hand wrapped around a silver switchblade in his black coat pocket and flicked it out into the dimmed light of the alley. "Get out of here."

_Yeah, no problem._ Michael turned around and began stumbling away.

"No! Please help me!" The woman cried.

"I said…" The switchblade raised high into the air then sliced down across the woman's cheek. "Shut _up_!"

Michael froze at the sound of the woman's last scream. Bright images of another young woman generated from his memories flashed across his eyes. She was beautiful with an adorable smile. The smile soon twisted into an expression of horror and pain as a man forced himself on her. _You weren't there; you didn't even know her then. But…it still hurts…_

The woman struggled as the pimp began tearing at her skirt. "No!"

The pimp gritted his teeth and raised the switchblade once more. "How many times do I have to tell you to…" The blade came down towards the woman's face then stopped two inches from its cringing target. "Shu—what!?"

Michael took another swig from his bottle of vodka while firmly holding on to the pimp's wrist. "That's enough. Get out of here."

"Mother fucker, you just ended your life!" The pimp turned and backhanded Michael with his free hand causing the young man to stumble back and shatter his vodka bottle against the wall.

Michael slowly turned his head to the right and stared at the broken remains of the bottle still in his hand then sighed. "You just _had_ to break the bottle."

The pimp ran across the alley, the blade lowered to his right hip. "I'll break your fucking face!"

Michael eyed the blade and watched it shoot out from the pimp's side towards his stomach. His hands clasped around the pimp's wrist and his body twisted out of the blade's reach. Michael's arms forced the pimp's arms to twist, bring the blade back around, and bury it deep in the stunned man's chest piercing his heart. Michael took a step back and watched as the pimp gurgled and coughed up blood then toppled over, dead. _I ended my life three years ago._ Michael glanced up at the sound of hastened footsteps and caught a glimpse of the prostitute running out of the alley before she disappeared around the corner. "You're welcome." Although unnecessary, sarcasm had become a part of Michael's shattered character.

Michael had noticed the storm brewing for two days now. He didn't need a weatherman to tell him about the coming hurricane. Florida was hit with more hurricanes than anywhere else in the states so when you spend your whole life hiding from them, it's easy to tell when they were coming. He didn't know what people had named it and he didn't care. His eyes gazed up at the clear night sky. The moon was full and the stars were bright. Seconds later the blue orbs of light were covered in dark clouds of mist and large droplets of water crashed down on to the ground. The wind howled and ripped across the stone and metal buildings surrounding him. Car alarms wailed; papers and other small objects flew through the air. Michael remained still, starring up at the eye of the storm, pleading, almost begging it to take him up into the air and end his shattered existence.


	2. So it ends

**Final Fantasy: Not a hero**

**1**

**So it ends**

**March 3****rd**** 2010: Arab Jabur, Iraq**

"Good morning and happy new year. I'm Lindsay Garcia and you're watching CNN tonight." The news anchor, an attractive woman, as almost all female news anchors were, smiled as she pretended to organize a desk full of 'reports' while reading her script off of a monitor behind the broadcasting camera. "Newly elected president Barrack Obama seems to be making good on his promise to end the war in Iraq by issuing an order to pull more than one hundred thousand troops out of the war torn country within the next six months. We have, Brandon Fisher live at the Whitehouse."

Brandon Fisher, another reporter held his earpiece to his ear and waited for his queue. "Thank you Lindsay."

"Brandon, what we've been told here is that President Obama is actually issuing the order right now." Lindsay added.

"That's right, Lindsay he actually issued it hours ago and just got done informing the public at a press conference meeting." Brandon confirmed. "Now the question on everyone's mind is; where does Obama plan on sending these troops once they're back home."

"Many would hope nowhere." Lindsay smiled.

Brandon put on his best serious expression. "Yes many would _hope_, but _too_ many are too intelligent to believe that's the case. Now we've all heard of the president's rumored plans for Afghanistan and Iran or even Pakistan but it's just too soon for anyone to make any solid guesses. We're just gonna have to wait and see what the president has in mind for the war on terror. Back to you Lindsay."

"Thank you Brandon." Lindsay turned her face back to the camera. "In other news, another car bomb has gone off in London this time injuring…"

The TV screen displaying the news report blipped off and was replaced by the dim reflection of a young Muslim man, Shail Ali. His shortly trimmed beard and mustache felt smooth beneath his hand as he rubbed his chin. "They are finally leaving."

"No." Yu Ya, Shail's cousin shook his head. "They are just going to put the world's attention someplace else. They will still keep many troops here, enough to continue their _search_."

"But it will not be as many as it is now." Shail pointed out. "We will not see them every time we walk down our city streets.

"So it ends…" Yu Ya stroked his own beard. "The war in our country is over. The war with the Americans at least."

An ear piercing explosion shook Shail's home, the massive shockwave knocking him and Yu Ya to the floor along with everything not nailed to the walls. "What is happening!?"

"The Americans!?" Yu Ya shouted.

"We are not terrorists!" Shail screamed.

"When did that _ever_ matter!?" Yu Ya pointed out.

The two frightened men remained pinned to the floor for a handful of moments before Shail finally rose to his feet and crept over to the door of his stonewalled home. He peeked out the window beside the door then immediately dropped back down to the floor as several hundred bullets shattered the window glass and pierced through the stone walls.

"We are not Alkaeda!" Yu Ya shouted after the first volley of bullets ended. His eyes locked onto a tall Arabic man wearing peasant clothes and an orange road guard vest. "Why?" He rose to his feet. "Why do the _Sons of Iraq_ do this to us?" His left eye twitched as the identity of the man was refreshed in his memory. "Mohamed? You know that we are not Alkaeda."

Mohamed raised the AK-47 clutched in his hands and put two 7.62m rounds in Yu Ya's chest. "Yes. We know."

"Yu Ya!!" Shail screamed while tears streamed from his eyes.

Mohamed turned the steaming barrel of the assault rifle to Shail's forehead. However before he could fire, another volley of gunfire shattered the foundations of Shail's house and cut down Mohamed. Shail clutched his cousin's dead body, still screaming his name until another large explosion forced his instincts for survival to take hold and he rose to his feet, grabbing Mohamed's rifle as he ran out of his destroyed home. Shail rounded the corner of his small courtyard and ran out into the street, only to be knocked back behind the gates of his home by another explosion. He regained his footing and hunched over, covering his head as three more explosion shook the ground. A quick peek around the corner revealed two massive M1A1 tanks and two M1151 HMMVs reeking havoc on Shail's small village. Along with the tanks and gun trucks were two Bradelys that carried an infantry platoon. The American soldiers dismounted from their vehicles and engaged the Alkaeda insurgents that Shail had no idea were living right next door to him. Many of the soldiers saw the rifle in his hands and turned their line of fire towards him.

"Wait!" Shail dropped the AK-47. "I am not a terrorist!" His Arabic words did nothing to stop the Americans who barely understood anything he was saying. Shail raised his hands in surrender and hid back behind the concrete wall connected to the steel gate in front of his home. Realizing that the soldiers would not stop he turned and ran towards the back alleys between the many houses of many frightened civilians and fanatic Alkaeda insurgents.

**************

President Obama stood before hundreds of news reporters from all of the prestigious news agencies of the United States. "We Americans have grown as a people since the birth of our nation nearly three hundred years ago." His eyes scanned the expressions of the journalists. "Since then we have endured many hardships and fought many wars. All of which have been in direct conflicts with other established nations. Now, the entire world sits on the edge of a scale, weighed down by the deaths of billions and the ruination of trillions of lives. We now find ourselves facing an adversary unsanctioned by any civilization…"

***************

Shail zigzagged through several of his frightened neighbors trying as they did to escape the death the soldiers were raining down upon them.

"Help! Help me!" An Iraqi woman shouted from the ground. She crawled on her knees trying frantically to escape the gunfire and grenade blasts while shielding her two year old son from the explosions.

Shail gazed out in horror as the woman, reaching out for him was crushed by a large stone that broke off from one of the houses towering above them. "Why!?" He fell to his knees and lowered his hands and face to the ground then lifted his hands and gaze to the smoke filled sky. "Allah…why!?" A ground-shaking explosion from the blast of a 120mm heat round threw Shail from the ground, high into the air. As he fell through the air his back slammed into the edge of a well before he disappeared into the nearly dried up water source.

***************

"This deadly foe has destroyed one of our most sacred monuments and ended the lives of thousands of people from all over the world." Obama continued. "To combat this threat, in anger, we have tried invading the homes of the innocent to weed out the guilty and as a result we have lost countless more American lives and those of our allies."

***************

Shail splashed into a small assortment of water, shimmering three hundred feet below the ground. Dazed and disoriented, his mind had time to wander through the events of the past few minutes and the real shock of what had just happened to him hit Shail harder than the tank round. His eyes caught a glimpse of a feint green glow emanating from a cavern, uncovered from the tremors caused by the tanks and explosions. Shail slowly rose to his feet and crawled through the cavern entrance.

***************

"Many leaders have tried to end conflicts with radical decisions and I'm no different except in the fact that I won't try to end violence with more violence." Obama leaned forward on his podium. "This administration will not allow American lives to be lost in vein nor will it sanction the killing and destruction of foreign nations to appease the anger of the populace." He paused as a thunderous applause echoed throughout the conference room. "Preparations for our troops to be pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan have been set in motion even as we speak and within six months every soldier overseas in these hot zones will be back home in America." Another thunderous applause erupted from the crowd of reporters.

***************

Shail, now able to stand upright in the large cavern, crept up slowly to the source of the green light. "What is this…?" Fear slowed his movements but his confusion and curiosity pulled his sandaled feet forward. A small rock formation had formed beneath the drip of a light green liquid. Atop the formation a perfectly shaped emerald orb lay nestled inside the stone. Shail found himself reaching out for the orb before he realized his arm was moving.

***************

Obama scanned the crowd one last time before finishing. "What's next? That's what's on the mind of every American citizen. Where do we go after Iraq? What do we do? Questions of Osama and other insurgent leaders enter our minds. It is true they are still out there and we will find them. But not through war. We will find them through cooperation and intelligence. We will no longer move our forces forward without a clear target in front of them." He took in a deep breath then leaned back and stood upright. "Questions." The mob of journalists screamed for acknowledgement.

***************

As Shail's hand cupped around the orb the green aura surrounding the rock formation faded and an emerald electric current shot up the Muslim's arm. His body convulsed and the currents flickered behind his eyes. Slowly the orb vanished beneath his skin and the green aura encompassed his body. Shail held his hands out in front of himself in amazement. "Allah…"

Captain Cunningham, commander of Alpha Company, a tank unit stationed in Arab Jabur Iraq along with Captain Andrews, the commander for Charlie Company, Alpha's infantry attachment, surveyed the ongoing battle from inside his HMMV. "Hold the line! Edwards…call up Charlie and tell them to reinforce second platoon at grid six o four, four!"

Charlie Company, third platoon, rolled up in front of Shail's house and unloaded their dismounts into the fray. The needed support provided cover for the advancing dismounted tank platoon sections that were currently operating HMMVs. The extra firepower from the platoon's M-249 SAW team ripped through the opposing insurgent forces. After two minutes of gunfire and grenade blasts the Iraqi insurgents began to dwindle and retreat.

Sergeant Mathews, of Alpha Company, first platoon slowly rose from his position of cover and surveyed the landscape. The closed in stone houses crumbled from the many volleys of gunfire and explosions. His eyes spotted no signs of enemy reinforcements. "Apache six, Red four, no enemy in sight, moving in for a better visual."

"Red four, Apache six, roger." Cunningham acknowledged.

Mathews cautiously moved up with four members from his platoon, carefully scanning the area for any signs of enemy movement. Twenty paces into the stone housing community brought his team to a large white well. The feint scent of something burning caused Mathews to stop and raise the back of his fist to his soldiers, ordering them to halt. "Allen, Flores, you guys see anything burning?"

"Besides this whole town?" Private Flores always used sarcasm as a smokescreen for fear.

"It smells like…" Mathews eyes caught sight of orange flames slowly creeping up a brown rope attached to the well. "Oh." He sighed in relief. "It's just the well bucket rope." He grabbed the hand mic attached to the ICOM radio attached to his vest and keyed it. "Apache six this is—holy shit get down!" Mathews and his team dropped to the ground as a massive wave of flames erupted from the well towards them.

"What the fuck was that?" Specialist Allen asked, slowly gazing up at the well from the ground.

"The fuck am I supposed to know?" Sergeant Mathews snapped.

The team stood to their feet and took a few steps closer to the well then stopped at the sight of two flaming hands gripping the edge of the stone water source. Suddenly, Shail's infuriated gaze rose above the white rock striking pure terror into the hearts of the soldiers. He jumped over the edge of the well and stared down the monsters that had just murdered his family and friends and destroyed his village. "You all claim to fight for freedom and justice." His words were in that of his native tongue and only added confusion to the soldiers' terror. "But you come here to spill the blood of terrorists and spill the blood of my family too!"

"What the fuck is he saying!?" Mathews managed.

"Fuck what he's saying." Allen took another step back. "That motherfucker is on _fire _and he's _walking around!_"

"You destroy my home…ravage my lands…" Shail raised his hands, pointing his palms outwards towards the soldiers.

"I don't like where this is going!" Allen raised his rifle.

"Now…you will pay!" Shail shrieked.

"Shoot him!" Mathews ordered while already beginning to fire.

All five Soldiers opened fire on Shail as two massive flame clouds erupted from his hands. The heat from the fire destroyed the bullets before they came close enough to cause Shail any harm then engulfed the five soldiers. Their screams only lasted for a few seconds before their bodies were burnt in such intense heat that not even their ashes remained.

"What the hell was that!?" Captain Andrews shouted over his radio.

"I don't know, Andrews!" Captain Cunningham replied. "Mathews….Mathews!" Static was all Cunningham heard over the first platoon channel. He glanced over at his driver. "Edwards, roll us closer to first platoon's position."

Captain Cunningham's HMMV rolled up to the street where Shail Ali's destroyed home crumbled and came to a halt at the sight of several American soldiers being burned alive at the hands of what appeared to be an Iraqi on fire.

"What in god's name!?" Cunningham shouted. "Pull back! Bring the tanks up!"

Alpha section of first platoon Alpha Company rolled up. The two massive tanks traversed their 120mm cannons down the street and centered them on Shail. The now insane Shail raised his right hand and set Red One, which held the platoon's platoon leader, ablaze. Within thirty seconds the tank had melted in on itself and the crew was cooked alive. Red Two opened fire on Shail with every weapon system save the cannon and Shail's body was filled with 7.62 and .50 caliber rounds. Shail toppled over as his body was ripped apart by the nonstop onslaught of gunfire, his head exploding before his husk hit the ground.

"Is it…dead?" Andrews glanced out from his gun truck.

A squad of infantrymen from Charlie Company ran up to investigate the body. Blood poured out onto the ground from the husk of flesh that was once Shail Ali. As Sergeant Michaels knelt down beside the husk, a bright green glow caught his attention.

"What the hell is that?" Michaels wondered.

The emerald orb slowly rolled out from Shail's remains into the pool of blood beside Sergeant Michaels's knee.


	3. So it begins

**2**

**So it begins**

**Three weeks later: Fort Knox, Kentucky**

"So what is it?" A middle aged man's voice echoed inside of a dimly lit room with black steel walls. "What is it?"

"I don't know, Pete." Dr. Harold Benson replied to his colleague, Dr. Peter Dunn.

Deep within Fort Knox, Kentucky several different scientists from all over the United States worked tirelessly trying to unlock the secrets of the mysterious orb that appeared beside the dead body of an impossibly powerful Arabic male. The well educated men and women ranged from several different studies in science including geology, meteorology, astronomy, signal analysis, advanced electronics, and nuclear fusion.

"It was found in Iraq, but we don't know if that's where it came from." Dr Sheryl Knight glanced over analysis readouts on one of the many computers scattered throughout the secret laboratory. "Whatever it is, its material isn't anywhere on the periodic table. It might not even be from this planet."

Dr. Gerald Bustevy shook his head, annoyed by the comment. "Astronomy majors, put one thing out of place and they always have to go the alien route."

"You got a better explanation? This rock isn't from Earth." Sheryl frowned.

"It could be, and we just haven't dug deep enough or in the right spot to find it." Peter suggested.

"Then how do you explain…" Sheryl began.

A low hum resonating from the orb pulled the attention of all the scientists in the room and the two U.S. army guards to the mysterious object. Sheryl was the first to reach out for the orb. Slowly, strands of her short blonde hair began to lift and hover backwards as if being blown back in the wind.

"Sheryl…" Peter called out to his entranced colleague. "Sheryl!"

An invisible bubble surrounded Dr. Knight and Peter's voice smashed against it then rolled over the top and vanished off in the distance. Sheryl's hand hovered around the orb that slowly began emitting a bright light, blinding the other scientists in the laboratory. The moment her skin touched the green orb an unfamiliar sensation erupted throughout her body. Frightened and confused, Sheryl had no choice but to enter the new world being displayed in front of her eyes. A bright white light blinded her and an even brighter orange and red flame cloud sprouted up in front of her.

"_We must see._" Sheryl's voice wasn't her own.

A hot and humid whirlwind swirled through the laboratory knocking several shocked scientists to the ground. The winds generated from Dr. Knight as the orb vanished beneath her skin. Bright orange and red flames emerged from and encircled her body, her lab coat fluttering in the wind.

"See what? What is she talking about!?" Gerald screamed while shielding her eyes from the light.

The two guards raised and aimed their side arms at Dr. Knight.

"Put the object down!"

"Get down on the ground!"

"Drop the object, _now!_"

Peter held out his hand towards the guards. "Wait! Don't shoot her!"

"_We must all see…or we won't survive._" Sheryl still had control over her mind and body, however, something compelled her to do what she did and say what she said.

Sheryl took three steps towards the only entrance and exit to the laboratory causing one of the guards to pull back the cocking hammer on his handgun.

"I said get _down_." The soldier screamed.

"Sheryl! Stop! Please!" Harold begged.

"They will return…" Sheryl's voice boomed inside of the laboratory. "They are coming…"

As Dr. Knight began moving forward again, fear caused the guard that had cocked his handgun to squeeze the trigger of his weapon, sending a golden bullet straight through the front of Dr. Sheryl Knight's forehead and out the back. As Sheryl's body hit the floor, the light faded and the winds died down.

Shock and disgust overtook Dr. Dunn's face while anger began to boil inside his chest. "Why…" His infuriated gaze locked onto the guards. "Why did you kill her!? You murderers!"

"Get back!" The soldiers turned their weapons on the other scientists.

Peter's fingers rolled up forming fists and his face lowered into a frown as he glared at the guards. "Bastards."

***************

**Eight months later: Vancouver, B.C. Canada**

"Hey! Give that back!" Sarah Conway shouted while giggling.

Nathan Roberts smiled cockily, holding his left hand behind his back. "Come and get it."

A sly smile crept onto Sarah's face. "Do you really wanna take it that far?"

Nathan waved the Graphic Novel; _Shonen Jump's: One Piece,_ in front of Sarah. "In what world wouldn't I?"

Sarah charged at Nathan and her hands shot forward towards the book. An adorable laugh escaped her while she struggled with Nathan, who gently wrestled her to the floor of their apartment. Sarah kept a firm grip on the novel as Nathan shoved it to the floor above her head. With the novel and his beautiful fiancé pinned to the floor, Nathan lowered his body onto Sarah's and pressed his lips against hers, sliding his tongue into her mouth. Another giggle escaped Sarah's mouth as she returned the kiss and slowly released the novel, wrapping her arms around Nathan's neck.

A little over half an hour later the two lovers lay exhausted and entangled on the floor, their naked bodies glistening with sweat and deep breaths flowing in and out of their chests. Sarah rested her head on Nathan's chest and caressed his chest with her right hand while smiling. Nathan ran his fingers through Sarah's hair.

"Nathan?" Sarah said through heavy breaths.

"Yeah?" Nathan kept his tired gaze on the ceiling.

Sarah pulled herself up on top of Nathan and kissed him on the lips. "I love it when you take it that far." She said softly then smiled adorably. "I love you."

"I love you too, babe." Nathan smiled.

Sarah giggled and rolled over onto the floor then pulled out her cell phone from the pocket of her black jeans which were about a foot away. "So." Her eyes scanned over the menus on phone screen. "We're going back to Washington on the fifth?"

"Whenever you want babe." Nathan replied.

Sarah rolled onto her side and gazed at Nathan wearing another adorable smile. "Noooo…I told you no more feeding my girlyness. If you wanna set another date let me know."

"Why would I want to be anywhere you're not?" Nathan asked.

Sarah's eyes sparkled with drying tears from her recent orgasm and fresh tears of happiness from Nathan's words. "Oh, Nathan…" She gave him another affectionate kiss before grabbing a T.V. remote control from the long glass table and turned on her television. Loud explosions and gunfire immediately flashed in front of her eyes from a news broadcast covering the ending war in Iraq.

"Last week several soldiers lost their lives in a heroic attack on a long suspected Alkeada training village named Arab Jabour. Troops from Third Brigade, First Infantry Division went forward on confirmed Intel that a long wanted but not well known terrorist leader Albunaei Buna was residing in Arab Jabour with over sixty Alkaeda soldiers. The fighting broke out in the early morning last week on Martin Luther King Jr. day…"

Bored with what seemed to be the only thing the news focused on, Sarah flicked the channel and was bombarded with more news on the war in Iraq. Images of a not too long ago past began to flicker in her mind. Memories of pain and sorrow and also happiness that she managed to suppress except for when the war was thrown in her face. He was a soldier and his face brought sorrow and depression into her heart every time her memories brought his image to her mind. He was all she wanted in life, her one true love, or that's what she thought at the time. However, he showed her that love isn't what people expected it to be. He broke her heart and she walked away to the man that turned her life around.

Nathan glanced over at the television every now and then as Sarah flicked through the channels. He smiled to himself feeling luckier than any man on Earth. He lost Sarah once to a man he never even knew existed. This man had stolen Sarah away from him with a computer. Sarah and the man she was with talked for years over the internet and one day she came to Nathan and said she didn't love him anymore. However when this mystery man arrived at her old home he frightened the life out of her and Nathan was there to protect her, as he always had and always will. Now she was back with him and realized what he always wanted her to realize, that his heart bled for her and he would never let happiness escape her heart.

"Who was he…really?" Nathan suddenly asked before he could realize the question was on his mind.

Sarah winced, knowing who Nathan meant and not wanting to ever think of that part of her life again. "He was…Nathan…none of that matters anymore…"

"I know but…" Nathan hated seeing Sarah in any kind of pain. He considered dropping the subject. "I'm sorry."

"No…it's okay you just wanted to know. I…" Sarah steadied her emotions. "I met him in a dragonballz chat room…it was really silly how it all got started but…the things he said to me…I just couldn't imagine anyone ever…it didn't matter though." She sniffled. "When I met him in person…the first day I saw him even before we hugged…" Water began to sparkle behind her eyes again. "His eyes…I never felt so scared. But I stayed with him…I tried to understand him…but he only wanted…" Tears rolled down Sarah's cheeks. "He only…"

Nathan wrapped his arms around Sarah and cradled her against his body. "Shh…it's ok."

"I just wanted to be happy…I'm so sorry for what I did to you, Nathan…I should never have left you." Sarah wiped the tears from her eyes.

Nathan affectionately ran the fingers of his right hand through Sarah's hair. "It's ok babe."

Sarah smiled and snuggled into Nathan, kissing his neck softly and closing her eyes. Nathan held her closely and caressed her arm with his thumb. "Everything is perfect now…" He whispered. "Everything will be fine."

***************

**Fort Knox, Kentucky**

"Liberty…freedom…justice…" Peter glared at the floor of a small holding cell the military guards had locked him in. "Peacccccccceeeeeeeeeee." His head wavered slowly from left to right as his eyes sparkled with water and hate.

"Shut the fuck up in there!" Another soldier shouted from outside the cell.

"Silenceeeee." Peter hissed.

"One more word and…!" The guard began.

"And you'll run home crying to your mother about how the annoying scientist wouldn't shut up while sucking on her tit!" Peter said while grinning maniacally.

"Mutha…that's it! I've had enough of this guy!" The guard shouted. He turned to open the cage ignoring the loud protests from his partner.

"Hey calm the fuck down! We can't risk him escaping because of your bullshit!" The second guard screamed.

"He's not going anywhere." The guard whispered, then yanked open the cell door.

Peter gazed up at the guard with a glare that was not his own. "They are coming…"

"The only thing that's coming is your ass whooping." The guard set down his assault rifle and rolled up his sleeves.

Two seconds later a bright bluish white light flashed from inside the cell and the guard was blasted back into the wall outside of the holding area. His partner shielded his eyes and backed away in confusion. Dr. Peter Dunn's body hovered six inches above the ground through the cell doorway. His arms hung loosely at his sides and his eyes were replaced with a bright sky-blue light.

"This is not a warning. It is only a chance, for you to prepare for your destruction. When they arrive, so shall we. However both of our fates…have already been decided." A high pitched voice flowed from Peter's mouth. Moments later a blinding white light exploded from and incinerated him and everything around him within an eight mile radius.

The military post once known as Fort Knox was covered in a bright orb of white light for several minutes. Vehicles, military and civilian alike attempting to enter the base, came to an abrupt and violent halt nearly being consumed by the light themselves. When the light vanished nothing was left of Fort Knox. All that remained was a giant crater larger than the destroyed base. Hundreds of soldiers and civilians slowly exited their vehicles. All of them wore wide-eyed expressions and all of them cautiously walked to the edge of the crater, none believing what they had just witnessed.

***************

**Vancouver, B.C. Canada**

Night had long since fallen over British Columbia and Sarah Conway found herself unable to sleep. She usually remained awake to enjoy the sunrise and talk with friends online. However the television held her attention that night. More and more channels were being committed to different news broadcasts. Not all were of the war though.

"Oil shortages may not be a _future crisis_ as experts have predicted." A CNN reporter read her reports from a monitor behind the cameras. Several images of unnaturally long lines at thousands of gas stations around the world flashed on and off of the screen. "Beyond the loss of gas, power outages have been flaring up in several major cities around the world. The last blackout lasted for three hours in Paris, covering over half the city. Energy is becoming scarce and citizens have started to panic."

Sarah sighed at the sight of riots and protesting. Mass panic was beginning to overlap every major power in the world. Even in Canada, although known as a backwater country, news of catastrophes managed to make the major stations. The panic hadn't reached Sarah and Nathan's home yet, however they too had begun feeling the effects. Their body shop received more and more customers over the last three months, all victims of traffic accidents from failing engines and empty fuel tanks.

"Don't worry about it." Nathan said drowsily.

"How can we not worry about it?" Sarah wondered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have just received a shocking report on a horrific development in Kentucky." Lindsay Garcia gazed out at the monitor with genuine despair covering her face. "Reports have come in of a massive explosion that has wiped Fort Knox completely off the map."

"What!?" Sarah shouted without realizing it.

Nathan sat up and wiped the sleep from his face. "What's going on?"

"Information on the cause of this disastrous event has yet to be released to the public. However this is not because the military is unwilling to release the specific details. We have General Howard Lamb with an official statement." Lindsay explained.

A tall middle aged man with short gray hair dressed in army class A's decorated with several medals and awards gazed out at a news camera. A grim expression covered his face as he took in a deep breath. "As I'm sure most of the world knows by now, Fort Knox, Kentucky has been completely wiped off the map."

"Sir! General Lamb!" A female reporter called out from the crowd of journalists seated at the press conference.

Lamb pointed to the woman and nodded.

"Was it a terrorist attack?" The woman asked.

"We don't know." Lamb shook his head.

"Has the army found anything as to the cause of the attack?" Another reporter asked.

"The investigation is still on going." Lamb replied.

"Have there been any reports of survivors?"

"No."

"What are the army's plans for recovering from this disaster?"

Lamb leaned back a bit and sighed. "We don't know."

Sarah shut her T.V. off and lied back, snuggling against Nathan. "What's going on?"

"Knox…that's where he went wasn't it?" Nathan wondered.

"For boot camp…he was stationed in Georgia." Sarah replied.

"You worried about him?" Nathan yawned.

She had never really thought of it. Sarah had tried not thinking of him at all, but now that the idea was circling her mind she found herself wondering if she should be worried about him rather than if she actually was or not. He could have died a long time ago. He wasn't in the army anymore. The last email he sent to her that she now regretted not replying to, told her that he was going to pursue the life plan he had imagined for the both of them.

"No. H e isn't the type that anyone would need to worry about." Sarah lied, more to herself than Nathan.


	4. Prelude

**3**

**Prelude**

**Sadr City, Iraq**

Hundreds of tall crumbling skyscrapers deteriorated along the trash filled streets of Sadr City. Thousands of poverty stricken Arabic civilians walked to and from their means of nourishment. Many of them traveled with herds of goats and sheep. Donkeys hauled bags of hey, grass, and wheat. Children wandered the streets without parental supervision. The only thing that was missing from the everyday lives of the citizens, were the Strykers driven by the scout brigade that once patrolled the city in search of terrorists, and the M1A1 Abrams tanks supported by M1151 heavy armor Humvee gun trucks. The sky was missing the Chinooks, Blackhawks, and Apaches.

A few Americans still remained within the confines of the once frequent hotspot for terrorist activity. Their presence was illegal and unwelcome and their objectives were filling their limitless bank accounts. For hundreds of years these soldiers of fortune from all over the world, traveled outside of their homelands, hiring themselves out to the highest bidder. Most of their missions and methods were not favored by the U.N. (United Nations). For most of the men and women in this particular line of work, the dirty jobs were a means to an end; the end being a more comfortable life.

One mercenary however, devoted himself to the life threatening career. To him, his life had already ended; his body just hadn't caught up to the fact. So he concentrated all of his skills and focus on death and destruction. He only took the most dangerous of jobs put out by the same terrorists he used to hunt, some in Sadr City itself.

"GS this is, Tiger Lily." A soft female voice came through a small communication ear piece.

Michael Thomas knelt down inside an abandoned skyscraper and glanced around the city streets below. "What?"

"Hoooow ya doin?" Tiger Lily chuckled.

"Will you shut up and just keep me posted on who's in charge of the militia this week? You know do what you're _paid_ to do or something like that?" Michael scoffed.

"Hey there's no need to get all mean." Tiger Lily protested.

"Every distraction you cause could cost me money." Michael hissed.

"Well sorrrrrry Mr. _Ghetto Samurai_. Maybe if you get a better call sign I'll stop teasing you." Tiger Lily said annoyed.

"Um, how bout, no, Angela." Michael smirked.

"Hey! I told you not to use my real name over the net!" Angela shouted.

"And I told you to keep your mouth shut while I'm working." Michael shot back.

"But I'm so _bored_!" Angela whined.

"How? You've got internet _and_ cable over there." Michael growled then grimaced for continuing the useless conversation.

"Ok…well maybe I just _might_ get a little worried when I don't hear from you for _days_." Angela said sincerely.

Michael remained silent for a handful of moments, letting the wretched stench carried in the Iraqi wind fill his nostrils. "Lily."

"Yeah?"

"If I die…that'll be better for both of us." Michael switched off his comm. Unit and stood up. His target would be arriving shortly and he had to get into position.

The house was tiny and ragged, and a small family was huddled together trying to stay out of the immense heat. However their food was scarce and with no electricity and no running water, survival, was just that. It was a widely known stereotype that every Iraqi citizen had some affiliation with terrorists. This discrimination held its roots in the fact that every so called terrorist was once a normal citizen or soldier. Michael knew that the family might actually have connections with his target, but he didn't consider it to be a risk. If they informed the target of his presence, soldiers of the Mahdi militia would hunt him down. Michael might survive or be killed. Either way his target would escape but that wasn't the point. Death was the point.

A convoy of expensive Japanese and American made cars rolled down the garbage littered two lane streets in front of Michael's post. The withdrawn mercenary pulled his customized Dragonov sniper rifle bag slung around his back and took up position on the second floor of the crumbling house. There was no silencer on the rifle, the family would hear the shot, and they would know who committed the murder. Yet they would treat it as another common act of terrorism. To the mercenary's despair, they would not have any second thoughts of the execution.

The convoy came to a halt, the middle car stopping in the center of the building Michael had chosen as his post. A beautiful woman with long black hair stepped out of a Mazda 5 near the center of the line of vehicles, scanning the area with a desensitized look upon her face. Her eyes were as black as her hair and her demeanor was that of a veteran whose emotions were racked by loss and war. She glanced around her poverty stricken city born within a war torn country, reading the eyes of the hundreds of civilians wandering the streets in search of salvation.

Michael fully understood the meaning behind the word terrorism and knew that this woman, Shali Musomae was not one of them. There weren't anymore Americans patrolling the streets for her forces to attack. Many Iraqi militia groups and civilians had died by her hand and her order; however every country went through periods of civil war. The ideals held by Shali were different than her brothers and sisters who held a powerful sway over military forces. This is why her head was centered in the crosshairs of Michael's Dragonov. Michael watched her for a handful of moments, studying her eyes and expression. He saw a lot of himself behind her black pupils and wondered what she was thinking.

One of the small children, a little girl ran up to Shali and stopped a foot away from her. "Miss! Miss! Chocolate!"

Shali knelt down, placing her hand on the girl's head. A smile failed to find its way through Shali's emotions. "Where are your mother and father?"

A 7.62 millimeter bullet punched through the back then ripped through the front of Shali's forehead. The girl shrieked then ran away while the twenty militiamen once under the command of Shali scattered, taking cover and firing into the surrounding buildings.

Michael observed the chaos for another handful of seconds before placing the rifle back in its case and slinging it back over his left shoulder. The bag clanked against the M-4 carbine and straight blade katana sheathed in an X on Michael's back.

"_You wish for death…"_ An unfamiliar female voice glided along the wind in an almost inaudible tone.

Michael glanced around the building, ignoring the bullets whizzing by his head.

"_Yet heaven sickens you…and hell bores you…"_

"I gotta stop having these long periods in between drinking…" Michael said annoyed while walking towards the room exit.

The voice remained silent for two minutes after Michael had exited the room. _"No one can not exist. God either favors you or punishes you…"_

***************

**Vancouver, B.C. Canada**

"_You saved her."_ The voice that called out to Michael now called out to another.

Nathan dropped the ratchet clutched in his right hand then banged his head on the transmission pan of the Mustang GT he was working on. "Ow! What the hell?"

"_She has placed her entire life in your hands now…"_

"Who's there!?" Nathan pulled himself from underneath the car.

"_You are the one."_

Nathan stood up from the work sled he lay on and scanned the body shop. "You got three seconds to show yourself before I call the police!"

"_Will you die? Will the world die? Will she die? They are arriving now. They will destroy everything."_

Nathan quickly walked to the front of the body shop and grabbed the phone on the desk. His fingers quickly punched in a set of numbers he knew by heart and then his patience faded while he waited for an answer. "Sarah!"

"Nathan?" Sarah yawned.

"Sarah, are you ok?" Nathan made no attempt in hiding his worry.

"I'm fine, Nathan. What's wrong?" Sarah asked with concern in her voice.

Nathan let out a sigh of relief. "Nothing…I uh…I don't know."

"What happened?" Sarah wondered.

"I don't know." Nathan admitted. "I was just finishing up the Mustang when…"

"Ha!" Sarah laughed. "I told you to leave that one to me."

"Yeah I know. But…I don't know I heard this weird voice and…" Nathan began.

Sarah giggled a little then began imitating a theme from a famous horror television show. "You're going crazy."

Nathan smiled. "I didn't think I could get anymore crazy about you than I already am."

"Aww…glad you were wrong…I think." Sarah said soothingly.

"I'll see you later today ok babe?" Nathan let out another sigh without realizing.

"Ok." Sarah replied. "Love you."

"Love you too. Bye." Nathan hung up the phone then glanced up at, Janice one of Sarah's good friends that she hired as a receptionist. "What?"

"If you were in such a rush to call her why didn't you just use your cell phone?" Janice held in a laugh.

"Because I left it in my coat in my car." Nathan frowned.

"Uh huh…" Janice began imitating the same television horror show theme.

Nathan scoffed then walked back to the garage area of the shop.

***************

Awakened by the strange phone call from her significant other, Sarah showered and threw on some small blue jean shorts and a white t-shirt. As she sat down on her living room couch a small white rabbit hopped up onto her lap. "Ah! Bunny! I told you not to do that!" Sarah giggled then affectionately scratched behind the rabbit's ears.

"_It's all in your hands…"_

"Huh?" Sarah gasped in shock.

"_Everything."_

Sarah slowly gazed down at, Bunny with confusion covering her face. "Bunny…?"

The rabbit glanced up at her then around the entire room never doing anything outside of its animal characteristics.

"_You will determine the fate of us all."_

"What…the fuck…is going on?" Sarah's eyes scanned every inch of her living room.

"_They have arrived…they will destroy…the past will explain…the present is lost…the future…" _A blinding white light flashed from outside of Sarah's apartment through her balcony window doors. _"..Is in your hands."_

Sarah stood up from her couch and hurried over to the balcony. As the right door slowly swung open a massive orb of light similar to the one that destroyed Fort Knox filled Sarah's vision. Moments later orange and red flames exploded from the orb. Black smoke and dust clouds swirled through the flames and shot out in every direction. Sarah's eyes widened and her mouth opened taking in a deep breath. Before her, the explosion was quickly destroying Vancouver; however, her mind couldn't grasp the reality of the fact. Seconds before the black smoke and dust smashed into her home, Sarah backed away and shut her balcony doors. Two frantic steps into her apartment were all she could manage before the glass and metal doors exploded towards her from the force of the explosion shockwave. Sarah shrieked in fear then hit the floor, curling up into a confused and terrified fetal position.

**************

**Twelve hours later: Arab Jabour**

Deep beneath Arab Jabour within the well that Shail discovered the mysterious and powerful green orb; an American research team scavenged the vast cavern in search of answers to the destruction of Fort Knox. The team was comprised of two archeologists, two geologists, and one meteorologist. Their escort, a squad of Special Forces commandos who were until a week ago, all on leave from a secret mission in Pakistan.

"Margaret?" Jonathan Dubb, one of the archeologists called out to his rival in grave robbing.

"Yeah John, what do you got?" Margaret Ellis wondered.

"Jack shit." Jonathan replied.

"Then what is it?" Margaret sighed.

"Just wondering if they told _you_ why the hell we're down here." Jonathan crawled through the small hole that led into the orb's chamber.

"Left you in the dark as well huh mate?" One of the geologists, Robert Weel chuckled.

"No pun intended?" Jessica Burton the meteorologist of the group smiled while holding up a chemical light.

Daniel Sueng, the second geologist of the team crawled through the small hole next. "Usually when Uncle Sam sends me on a hunt to find something and won't tell me what it is, I end up either getting a six figure paycheck or a medal."

"Screw the medal. They better pay me close to seven figures for this shit." Margaret brushed a black widow spider from her left shoulder.

The commander of the Special Forces team, Captain Trenton scanned the cavern with the night vision goggles strapped around his head. "Looks secure. Spread out and make a perimeter. I want two on the well entrance and one on the cavern entrance. The rest of you scan the area for anything suspicious."

"So did you have any family at Knox?" Jonathan asked Margaret.

"No. Did you?" Margaret wondered.

"How does something like that happen?" Daniel cut in.

"Maybe _that's_ why we're all here." Jessica added.

"How could a cave in the middle of nowhere have _anything_ to do with…" Robert began "…wait what the heck is that?"

A large pillar was formed at the center of the cavern. A large cone shaped pillar with a dim emerald glow resonating from its flat tip. As the scientists crept closer to the pillar their vision refocused and what appeared to be a flat tip was reformed into a more octagonal shape with small extensions of green crystallized stone curving upward.

"It's almost as if the rock was…cradling something." Margaret said while reaching out to touch the pillar.

Before her skin caressed the green crystal, a drop of water splashed into the center of the cradle causing the surprised woman's hand to retract. In unison, all of the scientists gazed up at the ceiling. The darkness surrounding the cavern blocked their vision.

Jonathan turned his head to the S.F. captain. "Hey! Captain Trenton!"

"What is it professor?" Trenton replied.

"Could you and your team shine your lights to the ceiling for us?" Jonathan asked.

"You guys didn't bring your own lights?" Trenton wondered.

Jonathan gave the commander a sarcastic glare while unhooking his own flashlight from his belt. "We're gonna need a lot more light than what we brought."

Trenton sighed then nodded. "Team, surefire lights on. Light up the roof."

The team of scientists along with the S.F. team all pointed their lights to the ceiling. What they saw shocked even the battle hardened soldiers. Jessica stumbled back in amazement, almost tripping over a large stone on the ground. Above the two teams, a massive assortment of spiked crystallized pillars glistened against the artificial light. At the center of the formation, a bright emerald pillar was formed directly above the pillar on the ground. Every ten minutes or so, a tiny drop of green water would drip from the tip of the pillar on the roof into the cradle of the pillar on the ground.

The two teams were almost too astonished by what they saw to hear the subtle bang and feel the low rumble from the back wall of the cavern. Captain Trenton was the first to respond to the event by lowering his assault rifle and flashing his light to gain the attention of his squad. He raised his hand and signaled for them to form up on him in a wedge formation and move toward the back of the cavern.

The scientists followed slowly at a ten foot distance. Jonathan and Robert stepped up to the wall at Trenton's order and began to examine it. Twelve minutes of brushing and feeling later, Robert noticed a small depression on the wall. His hand pushed the foot wide section of the wall in three inches. Five seconds later a gust of steam shot out as a large section of the wall rose up two inches then swung back, revealing a hidden path that lead deeper into the cavern.

"Ok…" Daniel gulped. "But what the hell made that noise?"

"One way to find out." Jonathan smirked.

"You can have that tomb raider shit. Count me out." Daniel backed away.

Margaret shook her head as she walked through the tunnel entrance with the other scientists and five members of the S.F. team. "Pussy."

The lights from the two teams were barely enough to illuminate the tunnel. The tunnel walls were lined with ancient unrecognizable hieroglyphics that Jonathan and Margaret took several photos of. About half an hour passed before the teams reached the end of the tunnel. A smaller cavern was at the end of the passage. Trenton's squad spread out into the room taking up positions and scanning with their N.V.G. systems.

"All this weird shit in the middle of Iraq." Trenton said while glancing around.

"Well this is the continent Christ was killed in." Robert added.

"Hey. Over there on the left wall." Trenton pointed with his surefire.

Jonathan stepped over to the wall with the other scientists. "All of the other hieroglyphs were in languages I've never seen before but this is in English…British English to be exact…"

Margaret gazed out at the words wide-eyed. "This is medieval period writing."

"It's possible…the crusaders did rule a great deal of this land for over a century." Jessica pointed out.

"Yeah but I don't remember anything about heavy excavating." Robert added.

"Well that's why we _tomb raiders_ are here." Jonathan smirked. "Not just to find stuff people don't care existed thousands of years ago, but to find stuff people hid thousands of years ago."

"Let's see here. Shit, a lot of it has faded away" Margaret began reading. "It says…"

_God died in the f… of his son to save his creation from itself. God's cre… murdered his so… because … … unwilling to relinquish its power. … … another of his creations to enter our realm from the stars to test man…_

_We sur… n… … has returned and … the one … stop it. It … someone … hate … who holds … heart … … I love … … is all that matters … the one will save … The one … humanities only chance. But … is not … enough … but … … … will … saving … and … will purify the world. … no longer ho… m… … h… heart. However I … … for her smile._

"What…?" Robert began.

"Don't…" Margaret held up her hand in annoyance. "Ask the obvious question that no one has an answer to."

"I'm just saying, that sounds like some real apocalyptic shit right there." Robert said nervously.

"Well it was written about two thousand years ago and nothing's happened yet." Margaret turned and smiled after taking a picture of the message. "So I think you can rest easy."

As Margaret finished her sentence, one of the S.F. squad members near the right wall of the room slowly glanced back behind himself after hearing a low slither on the ground. His peripheral vision, covered in a green light from his night vision goggles caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a snake with long horns growing out of its body.

"What the…!?" The soldier turned, aiming his surefire light in the corner of the room.

"What is it?" One of his squad mates called out.

"I don't know…" The soldier replied. "I thought I saw something." A low growl vibrated along his eardrums. He gasped and turned towards the origin of the growl, again spotting nothing.

"Bowers, what the fuck are you doing?" Trenton shouted.

"You don't hear that!?" Bowers shouted back, still glancing around the room.

"Hear what!?" Trenton frowned. Two seconds later he too heard a low growl from behind him. His body turned and his light illuminated a black reptilian creature four times his size. "Jesus Ch…!" Trenton's cry was replaced with a gurgled shout as the beast's brownish white fangs crunched through the top half of his body and snapped together.

"Oh my go…what the fuck!" Robert screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Holy shit!" Jessica shouted while making a mad dash for the tunnel.

"Run Maggie!" Jonathan grabbed her hand and followed behind Jessica.

"Shoot it!" Bowers ordered and began unloading the magazine of 7.62mm rounds loaded into his M240 Saw machine gun into the lizard beast.

"What the mother_fuck!_" Another S.F. soldier shrieked while firing his assault rifle at the monster.

Margaret fell to her knees as Jonathan suddenly hit the ground. "John what are you doing!?" She noticed he wasn't moving and shook him. "John…? Jonathan!" Water sparkled behind her eyes after the realization of what had happened hit her. She let go of Jonathan's hand and kept low while making her way to the tunnel to avoid being hit by a stray bullet from the soldiers' fire. However luck was not with her as she tripped on one of the large rocks that littered the cavern floor. "Shit!"

"Margaret!?" Jessica dared to look back and caught Margaret's camera that nearly slammed into her face.

The lizard beast stood up on its hind legs, and as the bullets from the soldiers bounced off of its armored hide, leaned its seven foot neck back then launched it forward, letting loose a cloud of flames that engulfed Margaret, Robert, and two of the S.F. soldiers. Jessica managed to force herself to turn and run even as her entire body shuddered from the events exploding in front of her. Impossible was the only word that ran through Jessica's mind.

Daniel paced around the large cavern growing more and more anxious every minute. It didn't help that he heard something that resembled gunshots but he let the worry pass. How could they be shooting at anything down here? They were digging around in an abandoned cavern that probably no one had been in for centuries. There was no possible way anything dangerous could be down here…right?

Two minutes later Jessica came running through the tunnel with wide eyes and terror covering her face. "Daniel!" His name escaped her lungs because he was the first moving creature she saw once she entered the cavern.

"Jessica?" Daniel's nerves began to tingle.

"Run!" Jessica managed before passing the confused geologist.

"What? What happened!?" Daniel began backing away from the tunnel.

Suddenly one of the Special Forces squad members appeared from the tunnel. "Get back!" His body turned and continued to back away from the tunnel as his arms aimed the barrel of the M203 grenade launcher attachment of his M4 Assault rifle at the top of the entrance. The grenade blast knocked the soldier off of his feet and caused the ceiling above the tunnel to collapse, sealing the entrance.

"What the fuck!?" The soldier at the cavern entrance shouted. "Yo, Singleton, Rodriguez, get in here!"

"King what the hell was that!?" Singleton asked after entering the cavern.

King pointed to the soldier still on the ground from his M203 round. "Ask, Douglas. He just sprinted in here like a lunatic and blew up the tunnel."

"Douglas!" Rodriguez shouted as Jessica and Daniel darted by him through the hole to the well. "What the fuck are you doing? What happened?"

A loud rumble and screech answered the soldier's question. The dragon's head smashed into the rocks at the entrance causing all of the soldiers still on their feet to jump back, aiming their weapons at the tunnel. Douglas only shook his head with disbelief. Three more hard rams from the dragon caused the large boulders to shoot out in different directions. The beast roared with a hunger filled rage, its vision centering on Douglas, who was too petrified to move.

Only seconds before the dragon's jaws snapped shut around his body did Douglas manage one last cry of fear. "No!"

King's fear took control of his face and actions. "Aint that some shit!?" He fired non stop at the dragon with his squad mates.

Outside of the cavern back in the well chamber, Daniel and Jessica frantically climbed the rope that led to the surface. Halfway up the rope orange and red flames shot out from the hole and set the rope ablaze. Both scientists shouted and climbed as fast as their muscles and adrenaline would allow.

Daniel pulled himself over the side of the well then quickly turned and helped Jessica up. "Hurry…hurry!"

The second Daniel managed to pull Jessica out from the dark, the dragon burst up from the cavern, destroying the gray circular stone formation that was once Shail Ali's well. The two terrified scientists gazed up at the sunlit sky as the dragon stretched out its massive eighteen foot long wings and took flight through a sky familiar to the beast over an unfamiliar world.


	5. Chaos before the storm

**4**

**Chaos before the storm**

**November 28****th**** 2010: Vancouver, B.C. Canada**

Sarah Conway used to long for her car because she was stuck at home when Nathan was out without her and she couldn't go where she wanted without taking a cab or the bus. Now, with over half of her city destroyed and all of its citizens running through the streets in a mass panic she longed for it only to make it to her body shop faster. Tears rolled down her cheeks as Nathan's voicemail again flowed into her ears from her cell phone. "Nathan! Please call me back! Let me know you're ok!" She stuffed the phone into her pocket and continued running towards her shop.

Smoke fluttered down from the crumbling skyscrapers that lined the city streets. Hundreds of thousands terrified civilians crowded the streets in vehicles, on bikes, and on foot. Hundreds of traffic accidents sprouted up every few seconds and Sarah began to realize that maybe it was better that she didn't own a car anymore.

"Oh my…" She sprinted to the right and ducked inside a diner narrowly escaping the fires from a news chopper that crashed near the center of the street. _What the hell is happening?_

***************

**Hollywood, Florida**

Michael Thomas slowly walked down the streets of his hometown wearing the only casual clothes he cared to wear. It was close to midnight and most of the civilized people had long since lain down in their comfortable homes with their happy lives and families. Michael, withdrawn from the normal activities of life took a turn down Flamingo Drive and walked into the large parking lot of a popular strip club named the _Booby Trap_. As he stepped through the double door entrance a strong fragrance of perfume and air freshener blew into his face.

"I.D. please." One of the bouncers said to the new customer.

Michael glanced up at the tall stocky man then kept walking.

"Hey! I said I.D.! And it's seven bucks cover charge!" The bouncer shouted while reaching out for Michael's shoulder.

The second the bouncer's hand touched Michael's shoulder the young man grabbed the older man's hand and squeezed with strength the bouncer did not expect. "Don't touch me." Michael said silently while starring down the bouncer who was now on one knee groaning in pain.

One of the attractive waitresses dressed in overly provocative clothing saw Michael and the bouncer then quickly walked over to the two. "Larry, check with, Jennet this guy's good. Didn't you look at the list of special customers?"

Michael let go of Larry's hand and continued towards the club bar.

"Sorry, Mike!" The waitress called out. "He's new!"

Michael sat down at the bar keeping his gaze on the counter.

"Mike. Good to see ya hun. You want the usual?" The bartender, another beautiful young woman asked.

Michael placed a hundred dollar bill on the counter. "Keep em comin'."

"Sure thing sweetie." The bartender winked then poured five different hard liquors into a glass and topped the drink off with cola. "One Long Island, heavy on the alcohol, just the way you like em. First one's on the house, happy belated birthday. Only missed it by eight days this time."

Michael downed seven of the drinks in about ten minutes then seven more in less time, always keeping his eyes either closed or on the counter. Watching people around him only angered him. Experts would call it a symptom of post dramatic stress syndrome from some war. Even though he had been through one of the Iraqi freedom operations as America liked to call them, Michael had developed this characteristic long before he ever was a soldier.

"Ladies and gentleman give it up for, Virginia as she makes her way off the stage. Coming up next we have the lovely, Amber. That's right the lovely Amber will be on the stage next and don't forget Virginia is now available for private dances and of course the champagne room! Don't leave her hangin' take advantage of her talents and let her show you some love!" The D.J. of the club shouted into his microphone.

"Looks like your girl is up next." The bartender smiled.

Michael sighed and turned as a familiar rap song (Ying Yang Twins: Take your clothes off) blasted from the speakers lacing the club ceiling. Although he hated starring at people, there were a select few he could watch or talk to that didn't cause his rage to flare up. Rachel Barnes a.k.a. Amber was one such person. Michael stepped off of the barstool and walked over to the stage.

Rachel a 5'5 redhead born and raised in Richmond, Virginia stepped out onto the stage wearing a skimpy impersonation of a nurse uniform. Like most strippers in a popular club she was beautiful and like most white strippers blessed with a backside as big as a black woman's, she knew what type of dancing would excite the young and old horny men and women sitting at the front of the stage. She wasn't halfway into the song before she noticed Michael sitting at the stage and gave him a genuine smile rather than a trained stripper smile. She stepped away from one of the men holding a twenty dollar bill and made her way over to the young mercenary and straddled him then rubbed her large c-cup breasts in his face. Michael gave Rachel a small smile then placed a one dollar bill in between her bosom.

When the song ended, Michael walked back over to the bar and continued drinking. Rachel quickly redressed and walked over to the bar, sitting next to Michael. Her eyes followed the many glasses of liquor up to Michael's lips and back down to the counter.

"So what brings you back down to FLA?" Rachel wondered.

"Got money, wanna get drunk." Michael replied in between glasses.

Rachel smiled. "Drunk and _laid_?"

"Just drunk." Michael said.

"Aw…" Rachel pouted. "You're the only guy I've ever met that would pass up fucking like rabbits with a hot girl for _free!_"

"Well…who says you're hot?" Michael tipped up another glass.

Rachel's mouth dropped in astonishment. "Well!" She glanced up and down her body. "Every guy I've ever met!"

Michael shrugged.

Rachel growled. "Why do I like you so much anyway?"

A large middle aged man leaned in between Michael and Rachel. "Hey, Amber what do you say we skip all this club nonsense and you give me a _private_ _show_ in my car outside."

"Get away from me weirdo." Rachel scoffed.

The man grabbed Rachel's arm. "Hey! My money is just as good as any other guy that catches you on the street when you aren't working here you slut now come on!"

Michael watched the man shudder and freeze after cocking one of his emerald-plated Desert Eagles from his jeans hidden beneath his shirt. "Think fast, cuz the move you make in the next two seconds will decide if you walk out of here…" Michael pressed the gun against the side of the man's head. "Or if you're rolled out of here."

The bartender froze in place with her hand still depressing the cola dispenser over Michael's next drink. The man slowly backed away from Rachel and faced Michael with his hands raised and a look of pure terror covering his face.

Michael smirked then disarmed his weapon and placed it back in his holster. "Smart choice." He said in the middle of finishing his drink.

Rachel only blinked for a handful of seconds then as the tension dispersed, she sighed and leaned on the bar counter, smiling affectionately at Michael. "Oh yeah…that's why."

***************

**Arab Jabour, Iraq**

"Daniel..." Jessica called out to her colleague. "Daniel…" She tried to reach him again. "Daniel!"

"What!?" Daniel shrieked in terror while glancing around in all directions.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Jessica glanced around the recently destroyed town.

"Alls we have to do is make it back to the two bongo trucks we rode in on. Sergeant Rogers is still with them and so is the communication equipment." Daniel explained.

"Ok…he drove back to Baghdad and won't drive back unless one of those dead soldiers down there contacts him." Jessica pointed out.

"Which is exactly why we have to get there quickly." Daniel replied.

"What are you talking about!? Can't we just wait here? Once he doesn't hear from his teammates he'll…" Jessica began.

Daniel turned and faced Jessica with an angered frown covering his face. "He'll pull out and the government _might_ send in an investigation team sometime next month!"

"Well…I…" Jessica sniffled.

Daniel cursed himself for screaming at Jessica like that then gently put his arms around her. "I'm sorry but I used to be in the army so I have a good idea of how this stuff works. They were keeping up with radio checks every four hours." Daniel glanced at his watch. "So in the next two hours, Rogers is going to start wondering what the hell is going on. Probably three hours later he's going to radio in for extraction and in another hour or so we're going to be in a _way_ worst situation than we are now."

Jessica took in a deep breath then let it out before speaking. "Ok…" She lifted her glasses and wiped away her tears then placed them back over her eyes. "Sorry for getting all girly there."

"It's ok." Daniel smirked. "Some guys actually like that."

Jessica smiled and followed after Daniel.

***************

**Fort Knox Crater, Kentucky**

Hundreds of firemen, police officers, and National Guard members from outlying states sifted through the singed rubble that was once Fort Knox. There was no hope for survivors for those who searched; they were all trained to know when a catastrophe was so large that only a miracle could produce life. However with an entire city being wiped off of the map, there was no flare of hope in any of the men and women combing the destruction that lay before them.

Confusion managed to creep into the hearts of the two policemen that were searching near the center of the crater. A beautiful young woman with long blonde hair and wide green eyes arose naked from the rubble. Her elegant gaze scanned the left and right sides of the crater while the bewildered men and women only stared at her, not knowing what to say or do.

"_Lucemia_." A strong commanding yet gentle voice flowed from her lips. "You must take me to _Lucemia_."

"What is she talking about?" One of the policemen asked his partner.

"Who cares…she doesn't have any clothes on. She's _naked_ man." The other officer replied.

After twenty seconds of not receiving an answer, the strange woman began to walk toward the mouth of the crater. Her mind ignored the calls of the policemen, firefighters, and soldiers and her feet kept her moving forward.

"Lady! Wait!" One of the soldiers ran over and reached out for her arm.

The second his gloved hand came within two inches of the woman's skin a small bright blue light flashed in between the two and the soldier was blown back by an unseen force. Immediately the other armed men and women within the crater pulled their weapons and began shouting orders to the woman who only continued to ignore them and walk toward the road. Moments before she was halfway up the ramp that led out of the crater a green gust of wind began to swirl around and lift her body into the air. Seconds later the woman vanished high into the sky. The United States government law enforcers and rescue members all gazed up at the sky and each other in mass bewilderment.

***************

Sarah Conway searched frantically through the crushed cars, broken walls, and caved in roofs that were once a body shop she managed with her lover. "Nathan! Please if you're here speak to me!" An idea sprouted in her mind and she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Nathan's number. A smile came to her face after hearing the familiar ring tone she knew belonged to her beloved. A gray jacket with a hood attachment lay on the floor near the destroyed garage door exit. The moment Sarah's hands lifted the cell phone from the jacket her mind and body froze causing the phone to slide from her motionless hand and hit the floor with a loud echoing smack. "Nathan…?"

Blood oozed out from a moderate gash on the left arm of a young man lying face first on the floor of the garage. Two large pieces of concrete that once helped form the roof of the shop were laid across his legs and back. Sarah shook her head in disbelief before scrambling over to Nathan and falling to her knees beside him. Her hands reached out for the back of his shoulders and gently shook him.

"Nathan…? Nathan!" Sarah cried uncontrollably. The rocks were too heavy for her to move alone. "Somebody! Please help me!" Another idea popped into her now fragile mind and she hurried to one of the crushed cars and again fell to her hands and knees. Her eyes scanned beneath the vehicle and a flutter of hope sprouted in her chest when she found the item she was searching for. "Hold on honey." The car jack rolled to a halt underneath one of the heavy rocks and Sarah began to slowly lift the rock off of Nathan's back. When she was satisfied with the height of the rock, Sarah grabbed Nathan's shoulder blades and pulled with all of her strength. "Damnit!" Sarah whimpered as she was still unable to free him. Minutes later another car jack was lifting the final rock covering Nathan's body and Sarah frantically pulled him away from the rubble then rolled him over. "Nathan…" Her soft hands gently caressed Nathan's forehead. Nathan couldn't be dead. Sarah would know before anyone could tell her. She didn't need to feel for a pulse because she knew he was still alive. "Please open your eyes…"

Nathan's brow furrowed a bit before his eyes twitched then slowly opened. "So do I really need to throw in the angel joke right now or can you already guess that's where I'd go with this?"

Tears streamed from Sarah's eyes as her lips formed a wide adorable smile. "I'm _not_ an angel…" She sniffled and lowered her face closer to Nathan's. "But I am in heaven right now."

***************

**Two days later: Hollywood, Florida**

Danielle Perez, a young American college student of Columbian decent leaned her head against her hand and sighed in boredom. This was what everyone was so crazy about. This place was why millions of parents died of heart attacks from the stress of gathering up enough money for their children.

"It's not worth it." Danielle said to no one in particular.

"What exactly, miss Perez, do you believe is not worth it?" The professor of Danielle's philosophy class asked.

Danielle gazed up letting her class and teacher read the shock in her eyes. "What?" She repositioned her glasses. "Oh, uh, nothing." A nervous chuckle escaped her mouth. "Nothing."

"Right." Professor Gregory Neville continued his lecture. "So what is a hero exactly? How would you define one? There are several to pick from. But not everyone considered them Heroes. America has Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, and King." Gregory took a few steps towards the left of the class.

"They were heroes because they did things not everyone can do. Sure people like to believe that anyone can do anything they put their minds to but it just isn't true. If Washington didn't step up no one else would have." One female student said.

One of the young men of the class frowned and turned to the woman. "You don't know that. There were plenty of other men and women back then that held the same ideals and were just as brave. They just weren't in the command position."

Danielle sat and observed the so called intellectual arguments that broke out among the class about several past leaders that some considered heroes. "You're all wrong…" She blurted out for a reason not even she knew.

Everyone, including professor Neville quieted down and turned their gazes to Danielle. The professor folded his arms as his lips formed a smirk. "I think Ms. Perez has something she wants to enlighten us with." Gregory said.

Danielle sunk in her seat then took a deep breath. _Well you got yourself into this. _She began thinking of a young man she loved and trusted as if he were her brother. His words echoed silently in her mind. _**No one's a fucking hero. Because everything people do is good to one person and evil to someone else.**_ "None of those people are really heroes."

"How do you figure?" Gregory wondered.

"Well…" Danielle began.

"This should be good." One of the students snickered along with his friends.

"Quiet." Neville scolded.

"Well." Danielle took in another breath. "A lot of those people did a lot of good things and helped thousands maybe millions of people. But there was always an equal if not larger margin of people who were hurt in the process. There were an even larger number of people who didn't know and or didn't care about the effects those so called heroes had on their towns or countries. That's another point. None of them affected the world. But like I was saying it's kind of like that whole for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction principal. What they did generated as many bad effects as they did good ones."

"True, but that doesn't change the fact that people did consider these historical figures heroes, and it doesn't take every human on the planet to think of someone as a hero for them to be a hero." Professor Neville stated.

"Isn't a hero a person who saves _everyone_ from evil? Washington led the revolution but how many Englishmen were killed under his command? Lincoln's war had Americans killing each other." Danielle glanced around the classroom, realizing that she had actually grabbed the attention of everyone in it. "I'm not saying they were bad, but the people they defeated did."

"Well then, Ms. Perez, how would you define a hero?" Neville smirked.

Danielle shrugged at the question. "Someone whose actions that everyone is affected by, has everyone agree with those actions."

Professor Neville nodded his head in approval. "Very good, Ms. Perez." _No heroes huh? _Neville wondered.

A violent explosion shook the entire college, rattling many students out of their seats. Danielle held onto her desk but still ended up hitting the floor as it toppled over. Her balance left her and her body rolled down the steps near the center of the auditorium. A bruised lip with trickling blood seeping out from an open wound and a small bump on her forehead were fortunately the only injuries Danielle received from the fall.

"What the fuck was that!?" One of the frightened students yelled.

"It's another terrorist attack!" Another student screamed.

"Calm down! Everyone make your way to the exits!" Neville shouted.

The light inside the halls blackened from the shadows of thousands of people rushing from all of the class auditoriums of the college. Random shouts of fear became the new language of the educated students and teachers as the explosions grew louder and the earthquakes intensified. Sunlight blinded many of the scholastic residents as they emerged from the classroom auditoriums and were abruptly halted by hundreds of policemen and Florida National Guard members. Danielle slid to a stop and fell forward, catching herself before her face smashed into the concrete. Her eyes widened as a line of police and army vehicles came to a skidding halt in front of her college. Yellow police tape and barricades surrounded the school minutes after the government officials arrived.

One of the National Guard members, a middle-aged captain raised a hand microphone attached to his HMMV to his lips. "Attention, everyone." His voice boomed over the loudspeakers atop the vehicle. "We need everyone to board the emergency shuttles immediately. An evacuation of the entire city for eight miles is in effect. Schools and hospitals are being evacuated throughout the area. We need everyone to file in front of a shuttle bus, now!"

Most of the crowd didn't have to be told twice. However there were always the defiant and inquisitive types. What the hell is going on? Why are they doing this? What's happening? They can't force us to do anything! What about our rights!? Questions upon time consuming questions were asked that the government officials had no patience for. People unwilling to cooperate were forced onto the busses at gunpoint.

Family, friends, and confusion swirled throughout Danielle's mind as she gazed out one of the shuttle windows. "Mark…" Her thoughts of her boyfriend were too strong to stay contained within her mind.

An unfamiliar ear piercing siren echoed across Hollywood, Florida. The siren was an alarm, an alarm that few knew existed and even fewer ever expected to hear. With the alarm came another voice over a loudspeaker with amplified power. _This is a nationwide alert. This is a nationwide alert. All Florida citizens within the Hollywood city limits are ordered to evacuate to neighboring cities and await further instruction. The United States is now under martial law._

The horrifying broadcast repeated for hours. Danielle was reunited with her family and Mark after being dropped off at a Grey Hound bus station. They were understandably just as confused and frightened as she was. Danielle scanned the crowds for one more person, her little brother, or at least the man she liked to think of as her little brother. She didn't expect to see him, nor did she feel his life would be in danger if the soldiers didn't rescue him from whatever they were rescuing everyone else from. Danielle just wanted him there now, because she always felt safe when he was around.

"Danielle!" Mark put his arms around his girlfriend. "What's happening?"

"I don't know…" Danielle admitted, returning the hug. "We'll get some kind of explanation later I'm sure. Even if it isn't the real one." The explanation came sooner than anyone expected as a bright white light flashed from the sky above Hollywood. "What…the…hell…"

"What in God's name!?" Ms. Perez shouted in horror.

A large flaming white object shot through the sky then crashed into the center of Hollywood, Florida, causing the same devastating explosion that tore through Vancouver. Danielle shielded her eyes by burying her face into Mark's chest. The dust and smoke filled with rubble and flying debris brought everyone to the ground cringing and screaming. For the next ten minutes, bone chilling screams combined with ground shaking explosions were all that any human on the outskirts of Hollywood city experienced. When the dust finally cleared enough for human vision to function, Danielle slowly stood to her feet along with Mark and a few of the other citizens brave enough to still want to know what was going on. Their eyes were filled with a beautiful yet heartbreaking sight. Hundreds of the flaming white objects burned through the air towards hundreds of heavily populated areas around the world. Mark felt Danielle's trembling hand grip his. The two of them stood together, gazing up at the storm of destruction raining down upon the planet Earth.


	6. Armaggedon

**5**

**Armageddon**

**December 5****th**** 2010: Washington D.C.**

Around the world, mankind huddled together in their homes and shelters, their eyes glued to televisions and their ears focused on radio waves. Political leaders burdened with the safeguard of their fellow countrymen all stood horrified and uncertain of what to say or do. Yet this did not stop them from addressing their nations. They did not speak to calm the nerves of their people for nothing they could say would accomplish the impossible. They spoke only to inform the people of their own uncertainty and assure them that if any solution to the current situation presented itself they would do everything within their power to help.

These promises were of course lies. It is a false and arrogant belief of every man and woman blessed and cursed with the responsibility of leading a large group of people that there is information that should be kept from the masses for their own benefit. The more powerful a group or nation becomes; the more left in the dark its populace is kept. American officials had learned a great deal about the extraordinary phenomena that had begun with a devastating attack on their troops to the destruction of several cities throughout the United States. However as the nation's president addressed the people he was sworn to protect, history's ironic rule did not change.

"My fellow Americans...." President Obama leaned forward on his podium and gazed into the camera once and only once as he read his address written for him by one of his advisors. "We have all suffered…tragic losses over the past year."

***************

Danielle sat next to Mark, her hand held tightly in his, gazing up at a large T.V. screen inside of a Jacksonville grey hound bus terminal. She glanced at him with worry in her eyes and received a comforting caress from his free hand on her shoulder.

***************

"None however, have been from the most recent attack on our nation by forces unknown to us or anyone else around the world." Obama continued. "I say no one else around the world due to the fact that it is not just our country under attack. Every country around the world, every heavily populated landmass on this planet…has been struck by one or more of these comets."

"Mr. President! Mr. President!" All of the reporters seated at the emergency address began shouting for a chance to interrogate the elected official before he could finish his speech.

"Yes." Obama sighed and pointed.

"Why were the comets not detected before they entered our atmosphere?"

"The first recorded comet impact was in Canada. Studies produced evidence to the fact that none of these anomalies impacted from outside of our atmosphere." Obama explained.

"Didn't the first comet hit Fort Knox?"

"No. We still have no explanation for that catastrophe." Obama lied.

"If the comets didn't impact from space then where did they come from?"

"We don't know. After the impact in Vancouver our experts managed to put together a systematic scan that covered our entire continent above two miles. That is why we were able to evacuate the survivors of the recent incidents to safety."

"What is the government's plan for uncovering the source of these attacks?"

"There is no plan." Obama silenced the ramblings of the crowd of reporters the best he could and continued his answer. "Most of our nation's forces were either hit in the attacks or are out trying to help stabilize the rising panic that has swept through our streets. At this moment our strongest military force is the navy as most of our ships were patrolling the borders during the attack."

"With our military strength nearly gone, is America going to be seeking help from other nations?"

"We have no choice in the matter, however as I said before, every nation that could render us help is in dire need of the same assistance." Obama said.

***************

Sarah, sitting beside Nathan on his hospital bed leaned into him with despair glistening around her eyes gazing out at the television mounted on the room wall. "What are we going to do?"

***************

"We don't know…at the moment there is nothing we can do except try and help each other get through this." Obama grimaced.

***************

Michael climbed up through a manhole and took a few steps into his destroyed hometown. His lungs took in a deep breath as he glanced around at the dead and dying people, smoldering buildings, and raging fires caused from the explosion then exhaled slowly. "Some shit like this would happen right when we get a nigga in the white house."

A low inhuman growl grabbed the mercenary's attention. His eyes caught a glimpse of two bright red eyes glowing in the darkness of a destroyed liquor store.

_Now what?_ Michael thought to himself, while upholstering his two desert eagles.

***************

_Now…you must leave._

Sarah's eyes slowly opened and she lifted her head from Nathan's chest. "What…?" The hospital bed was more uncomfortable than the floor but the doctors insisted the mattress was better suited for Nathan. Suffering through a night of maybe two hours of sleep was in no way worse than not being able to comfort the man she loved. "Who's there?"

_Leave. It has begun. None can be saved._

"Oh no…" Sarah groaned. The voice could not have returned at a worse time. Sarah wondered why she had to start hallucinating now just when she had finally put her life back together.

Sarah pulled her half of the bed sheets over her head and closed her eyes. However, none of that was enough to keep the bright white light that seemed to generate from nowhere from nearly permanently blinding her. Sarah cautiously pulled the sheets down and peeked out towards the window. Her eyes were filled with an impossible image. A gorgeous woman with long blonde hair and bright green eyes glided through the air into Nathan's hospital room. A long flowing white gown fluttered around her even after her feet touched the floor.

Soft and gentle, her gaze also carried a fierce darkness within it. "You must leave!" Her stride was elegant yet her movements gave off a commanding presence. Her voice vibrated with sophistication. "Now!"

Sarah stumbled out of the bed, almost falling face first onto the floor. "What!? Who are you!? What the hell is going on!?"

"What…?" Nathan slowly began waking up. When he caught a glimpse of the shining woman standing in front of his bed his eyes shot open and his body shot up. "What the hell is going on!?"

"Your voice…it's…" Sarah began.

"It's the same one I heard at the body shop!" Nathan gasped.

"Time is not with you. Leave now!" The woman shouted, even as a loud screech began to drown out her voice.

A split second after the mysterious woman shouted her warning, the window and the wall around it exploded into the hospital room. When the dust and rubble cleared a hideous pterodactyl like creature screeched in front of Nathan and Sarah. Both young people instinctively moved back, their eyes widened and their mouths dropped.

The woman turned to the beast and an expression of despair crept onto her face. "I cannot intervene…" Saddened green eyes slowly took in the vision of the frightened lovers. "I cannot physically interfere in this world…" The creature phased through her body as if she were not standing in the room. "My power has long since faded. But your powers have yet to be discovered. You must survive."

"What the fuck is going on!?" Sarah screamed.

The creature's red eyes scanned its strange surroundings with an unnatural lust for blood. As it hovered in front of the two shocked humans, drool oozed out from in between its teeth. Something unfamiliar to the beast buzzed near the back of its slanted skull, taking away what little intelligence that had surfaced in its evolving species and replaced it with an uncontrollable hunger for death and carnage.

"Sarah, run!" Nathan shouted while painfully jumping out of his bed. He grabbed her hand and ran towards the exit.

The small creature, no larger than a K-9 flapped towards them then landed on the floor with a loud thud and clawed its way towards them. Nathan stumbled as he lead Sarah towards the elevator and found himself having to put his arm around his lover and limp towards their escape from the death chasing them. The doors slid open slowly and closed even slower. Sarah slammed her fingers over the button repeatedly until the doors began to slide shut with the creature screeching in the air in front of them. A second before the doors shut the creature's head snapped forward towards its potential meals.

"Nathan!" Sarah screamed while stumbling back into the elevator wall.

The creature snapped its razor sharp fangs towards the two terrified humans nearly taking Sarah's arm off. Nathan's teeth gritted together as he clenched his fists and launched his foot forward smashing it into the top of the creature's snout. His balance left him and he stumbled to the floor with Sarah as the elevator doors finally closed. The two remained huddled together for several seconds while they regained their senses.

Impossible was the only thing Sarah could think of. Even as her rapid breaths slowed and her nerves soothed, confusion buzzed throughout her mind quelling any other thoughts or instincts that attempted to surface. Slowly, however, control of her mind began returning. "Nathan…"

An unimaginably loud roar shocked the two humans' waning fear back into their hearts and shook the foundations of the hospital. The concrete walls crumbled and the steel elevator shaft bent in on itself causing the car cables to snap. Nathan and Sarah screamed in terror as they plummeted towards the bottom of the shaft. Fortunately for the two lovers the car lowered to the second floor before it fell. Nathan and Sarah crawled away from the wreckage with several cuts and bruises through a small hole in between the wrecked elevator car doors. Shock remained embedded in their hearts as they passed the destroyed reception desk filled with crushed hospital employees. When the two emerged from the hospital, a fiery apocalyptic reincarnation of their home lay before them. Creatures impossible beyond all knowledge and evolution scavenged the city streets and skyscrapers. Terrified civilians ran frantically seeking sanctuary. Policemen wasted magazines of bullets on targets they did not know the weakness of. The monsters ripped the helpless humans to shreds and feasted on their flesh.

Nathan found the strength to ignore the pain and fatigue from his wounds and led Sarah towards the center of the street. "The sewer, come on!" He slid to his knees, grabbing a thin pipe from a destroyed guard rail.

One of the creatures, a furless purpled skinned wolf like creature with a red stripe running down the center of its back leapt through the air towards Nathan. The bewildered human leaned back, inadvertently sending himself over the edge of the manhole that he fortunately managed to open before being attacked.

"Nathan!" Sarah managed to scream before jumping down the sewer hole herself to avoid being eaten alive by another one of the wolf creatures.

The following splash was reduced to a gurgled flop from the waste and sludge floating throughout the sewer water.

"Oh…my…god…oh my god!" Sarah shouted. Her entire body trembled for three seconds before she began gagging and flailing her arms around. "Get it off get it off get it off! Oh my god, get it off!" Sarah climbed out of the water onto the tunnel and vomited for several minutes while on her hands and knees.

Nathan only held his arms up, inspected his sludge covered body, and shook his head while sighing then slung his arms down. "I would say it can't get any worse. But what the fuck do I know?" His face scrounged up at the smell of the human waste covering him.

***************

Their numbers could never dwindle. The ranks of their forces were nonexistent. Two, maybe three men and women stood together, alone in the darkness of uncertainty. Next to them, miles and livelihoods away, another insignificant group of soldiers, warriors that until a few months ago waited for their true foe to emerge from the shadows, prepared for the coming battle in a war that even though they spent a lifetime preparing for, knew nothing about. They had no country, no race of color, only a race of human civilization. No government controlled them, no secret agency. They worked together as humans but took no orders from them. Their objectives were unknown to them until the exact moment of their necessity. Yet for all that was unbeknownst to them, these warriors were several steps ahead of the populace they were charged with protecting.

One such warrior, concealed by the darkness of the night, covered in a pitch black flexible light armored bodysuit, stood beside the only two other soldiers in his city that knew what he knew. "Hey, Jack." He turned his black eyes to the man standing a few feet to his right. "Tell me something."

Jack Morris glanced at his partner while fitting a pair of night vision goggles onto his helmet. "Yeah?"

"We got ass loads of gear, equipment, and gadgets right?" The first man said.

"Yeah?" Jack replied.

"Ass loads." The first man said again.

"What's your point, Max?" Jack let his annoyance flow through his voice.

"Why…" Max Kendrick scoffed while sliding his own night vision devices down over his gel spiked red hair. He hated wearing helmets and armor. Even though the Kevlar laced material currently covering his body was the most flexibly comfortable body armor known to man, he still preferred his casual clothing to any form of armored coverings. "So why on our first official, _unofficial_ mission against the…whatever the fuck we are against do we use gear that we _haven't _tested."

"Call me old fashioned." The woman standing between the two men said, strapping down a light thin metal gauntlet cuff around her right forearm. "But I'll stick with calling them demons."

"Come on, Lauren you gotta be a little more creative than that." Jack teased.

"How bout dark seekers or maybe night stalkers?" Max suggested, checking the straps and webbings securing his gear.

Lauren Venna pondered over the names for a handful of seconds before shaking her head and holstering a colt .45 onto her right thigh and strapping it down. "It's been done."

Below the three humans, scarcely illuminated by stars and the moon, hundreds of civilians scattered across the monster infested streets of Las Vegas screaming in horror as they either witnessed several grotesque murders or fell victim to one. One woman with long caramel hair spun around at an ear piercingly loud screech from the throat of a round yellow creature. Its ball shaped body with large bat like wings harbored one big white eye with a red pupil. The purple skin beneath its wings and three foot long tail glistened in the dim starlight. Yellow spikes formed a line from the top center of its head to the bottom tip of its tail. The center of the ball bat monster flashed with two rows of impossibly sharp fangs that snapped towards the frantic human in front of them.

The bright lights of the once famous hotel and casino strips had long since been destroyed, leaving nothing but broken buildings, crumbling skyscrapers, and mangled concrete. The woman let out one last horrific scream as the creature loomed over her.

Lauren gazed out over the city and spotted the woman cowering below the round yellow creature, illuminated by the green light of her night vision. "Allemagne, twelve o' clock two thousand meters. Element weakness...wind."

"You mean the big round thing with the spiky tail?" Max smirked.

Lauren sighed in annoyance while Jack and Max chuckled. "Just…" She couldn't help the small smile that crept onto her face. "Give me a count."

"Well you gotta jump first baby." Max said.

Lauren crouched down then leaned forward on one knee as her night vision goggles zoomed in and locked onto her target at the touch of a button. A short moment after taking in a deep breath, Lauren leapt from the top of the skyscraper. With her hands at her sides and her body stretched forward towards the Allemagne, Lauren shot down through the air like a bullet. The intense winds and g-force from the fall disoriented Lauren and made it hard for her to focus on when she should activate the air pressurized rockets filtered throughout her body armor.

Fortunately Jack's voice flowed into Lauren's ears as he monitored her from the building rooftop. "Five, four, three, two, one."

White steam shot from several ports on Lauren's lightweight armor and her body was flung up in a backwards flip before her face hit the pavement. Seconds later she landed behind the Allemagne with her hands raised in a defensive stance. The monster turned and glared down Lauren as she interrupted its meal and wasted no time waiting for her to react. Lauren dropped her stance, her right hand gripping the butt of her colt .45. As her fingers tightened around the gun handle, her gauntlet, lined with five half spheres began to vibrate, an emerald glow covering the third sphere. The barrel of the colt centered on the middle of the large red pupil of the Allemagne.

The monster screeched in rage while flapping towards the strange glowing creature in front of it. Suddenly the Allemagne's advance on the creature slowed as an unnatural gust of wind began to flutter beneath its wings. The winds seemed to generate from the long haired thing in front of the monster. Confused, the Allemagne increased the strength in its approach only to be pushed farther back by the winds that now began to take shape in a bright green swirling vortex aura. Kicking up dust, rocks, and debris the winds encircled the strange object in the creature's hand and something small shot from it with the winds traveling behind it. Although tiny, the force from the object ripped through the Allemagne's eye and exploded out of the back of its head. Green blood and several unidentifiable organs splattered out across the carnage stricken land.

Lauren holstered her colt then took a few steps towards the bewildered woman who was still on the ground, too petrified to move. "Next time, you might wanna try running instead of screaming. I mean sore feet and a long life is a lot better than a sore throat and a gruesome death." She took a few steps back towards the building she leapt from. "Hey." Her eyes gazed up towards the roof. "You boys gonna join in or do you want us girls to have _all_ the fun?"

"Change of plans, L.V. we just got word from the message. We're overdue for a trip to the middle east." Jack's voice came through Lauren's earpiece.

"Yeah…" Max added. "Although I wouldn't mind waiting a few minutes while you lift up that chick's skirt and…"

"Lick her carpet? Stick my finger and let it linger?" Lauren folded her arms.

"Whoa slow down woman." Max said with wide eyes.

"Don't start what you can't finish." Jack chuckled.

"What's the Intel?" Lauren wondered.

"Something about the voice. Two people have been picked up. You know how the army found the _Materia_ in Iraq?" Jack explained.

Lauren nodded to the question while checking the assortment of red, blue, and green orbs inserted into five small spherical depressions on her gauntlet. "Yeah." Her finger depressed a small button on the gauntlet causing five thin sheets of metal to slide over the orbs in order to conceal them from enemies and protect them from sudden impacts.

"Well these guys found something else." Jack said.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Lauren asked.

"You to get your ass back up here so we can leave." Max made no attempt in hiding his impatience.


End file.
